Sohna Road sinkhole widens a day after road collapse

A sewer line collapse on Sohna Road in Gurugram has caused a sinkhole to expand, prompting repairs as sewage continues to flow beneath.

Gurugram: A day after a sewer line collapse caused a cave-in on Sohna Road near Subhash Chowk, the same spot sustained further damage on Thursday due to continuous flow of sewage underneath the road, officials said.

A view of the damaged stretch of theSohna Road (Parveen Kumar/HT)

On Thursday, a visit to the site revealed that the sinkhole, which was about 10-12 sqft on Wednesday, had expanded to around 25-30 sqft, requiring the barricading of about one-and-a-half lanes of the road.

This is the sixth time a portion of the same stretch of the Sohna highway has collapsed in three years.

According to officials, the National Highways Authority of India and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) have initiated steps to repair the damaged road.

Officials said that following the cave-in on Wednesday, the NHAI barricaded the affected stretch and closed about 100 metres of one lane on the Gurugram-Sohna carriageway.

NHAI officials told HT on Thursdaythat the agency has asked the GMDA to divert the sewer line flow to facilitate repair as soon as the water is pumped out. The GMDA, meanwhile, said they were coordinating with the NHAI to get the storm water drain and road repaired at the earliest.

“The repair of the road and the drain will be carried out at the earliest. We have asked the GMDA to divert the sewage water flow in the master pipeline so that the repair can be carried out. We will deploy pumps to remove water from the sinkhole once the inflow is stopped and repair it,” said Yogesh Tilak, project director, NHAI.

The GMDA, meanwhile, said they are working in coordination with the highway authority to repair the sewer line and the road at the earliest. “We are working with the NHAI to repair the sewer line and the road, and steps are underway to divert the sewage water flowing through the pipeline,” said a senior GMDA official.

This GMDA master sewer line, which runs below the Sohna Highway, was laid approximately 30 years ago and is currently dilapidated. Last year, the GMDA handed over the responsibility to strengthen this sewage pipeline to NHAI using the CIPP (Cured-in-Place Pipe) method, and the proposal is under consideration by the NHAI headquarters.